Never mind that a tight, sneaky, little black comedy has been
done on the subject of criminals and shinks (Grosse Pointe Blank).
Never mind that the definitive portrayal of shrinks and gangsters
(The Sopranos) is on TV, covering the precise territory of
Analyze This with gritty perfection.
Nope. Ain't been done till *Hollywood* sez it's been done.
Entailing, of course, an all-star cast, milked well for obvious
laughs and easy violence, made just vanilla enough for mass
consumption.
One can only be grateful that Analyze This has any merit at all.
I saw it when it first came out and enjoyed it thoroughly, but in
that guilty way that you *know* is because it's wintertime and
your expectations for new movies are low in January.
But a decent comedy is never to be sneezed at. Crystal underplays
nicely as the shrink until his very funny monologue at the end.
DeNiro's mob boss is played absolutely straight, a wise decision.
The dream sequence seems utterly unnecessary until the punchline,
which makes it all worthwhile. Crystal's kid is cast differently
from the usual wiseass kids. And while Kudrow is wasted, she
continues to prove she has the chops for the big screen.
Palmenteri is wasted.
But the best thing in the movie: Joe Viterelli's performance as
DeNiro's loyal henchman. Viterelli has provided two of my
favorite one liners in film history before this point. He is one
of the Morolto crime bosses in The Firm--the one who says: "I
think Ruth is right." And he is the Tony Two Toes, the
mobbed up union guy in Eraser: " Those dirty commies!"
"They're not commies any more. They're a federation of
independent liberated states." "Don't make me hurt you,
Mikey." So it's lovely to see him getting such a great part.
Definitely worth a rental when the time comes.
